Aquilegia

The nearly black ones are alpine aquelegias- love them.

LadyGracie - if you could spare a few seeds from the pale lemon one, I'd absolutely love to do a swap. ?

Well they are better than Alchemilla Mollis.
OK they do have their uses.
They are thuggish.

They are beautiful, the ones I have are all purple.

Yes I have two that appeared in my garden.
I think they are very promiscous and will mate with any other Aquilegia so it is likely not to grow true.
They are very pretty though.

We have a lot of the pink ones that you mention Callistemon - they're very tall and have been blooming for a few weeks now.

Advice is not to reintroduce them for a year at least

Aren’t they beautiful, we were given a black one. We have pinks, blues and a pale lemon one, they’re so intricate, nature is so uplifting!

We bought a plant in Durham years ago which self seeded and we always had plenty in the garden. Reading this thread I realised that we don’t have any now. Am wondering if a new plant from the garden centre would start off another dynasty or if this virus would see that off too? They are such lovely cottage garden plants I’d like to have them again.

I have lost several special Aquilegias to a Virus that is wiping them out , I am watching the rest , some didn't appear and some came up very short and died

Absolutely love them and love how they mix and are reborn in different colours over the years. Got all sorts- some double bonnets, some wild alpine ones (almost black)... and got seeds for double whites I've just planted hoping they will flower next year. Our house is a very old Vicarage in the mountains, and they are perfect for our 'Curate's garden'

Green fly

They're gorgeous Farmor, mine aren't half as good and haven't spread very much. The violets, on the other hand...

Apparently they like well drained soil, so maybe if they’re in a damp spot the roots rot in the winter and that may be why they don’t come up again. Mine are doing well near (but not shaded by) trees and the ground is fairly dry. They seed themselves in all kinds of unlikely spots - edge of patio, cracks in concrete.

Hadn't heard about the mildew either. Wouldn't we have noticed it? I've lost some too but thought I'd annoyed them by poking about and that maybe they didn't like last year's hot summer so seeds didn't germinate. I like the pinky ones best and love the greeny clumps of leaves.

Yes, we had a lovely group of purple and yellow ones ( Nora Barlow?) but nothing came up this year and no pink or purple either.The mildew thing explains it, glad it isn’t just ours, maybe better to wait another year?

I do like them but the only ones that seem to survive in our garden are the "common or garden" pink ones.
I have planted purple and yellow aquilegia but all have disappeared. The pink ones seem to survive and spread everywhere.

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loopyloo - I'd suggest you buy seeds. If you plant them now, and get them established this year, they'll flower next year. It takes a couple of years before the plants are big enough to give a good show, but after that they just keep going. I have a big, semi-wild garden and put them in a few different places. I thought that the "wild type" purple ones would take over, but they haven't.

I hope that mildew doesn't come here - I'm in Ireland - I'd be sorry to lose them. Here are a few more pictures including some "ordinary" ones.

I usually have quite a show of them, and they reached nuiscance proportions at one time, but, like Lemongrove they are conspicuous by their absence this year. I have just one plant flowering. On a piece of waste land near here, they flower prolifically in all forms and colours from seeds I presume the birds have dropped. I do grow a dwarf aquilegia on my rockery which is a joy. This was two years ago and it has spread since then.

Mine are all wishy washy pink now. Should I throw new seeds around or buy plants?

A few years ago a strain of mildew appeared which wiped out many Aquilegias, including mine and the National Collection. I’m wondering if I dare introduce them back in my garden. They are so pretty.

We've always called them Granny's Bonnets too, I had a lot self seed (purple's/pinks) in the garden but the last couple of years only the purple one has been seen. Now the plants have started to disappear. Never managed to keep the more colourful ones I planted at times.
You are lucky to have such a pretty selection Farmor.

They come up every year now, their nodding heads are a delight mixed amongst the other plants in the borders.

We had common ones and some special ones too, but this year, for the first time ever, not one has come up.

Yes we have inherited lots. All different colours. Though I noticed yesterday they had greenery. Are they prone to this?

Always been my favourite flower, love them all, but my favourite are the tall purple ones